


Tasks (Pleasant and Not)

by zarabithia



Category: Captain America, Captain Britain and MI: 13, Marvel, Marvel 616
Genre: Community: fanfic100, M/M, Morality, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-30
Updated: 2011-04-30
Packaged: 2017-10-18 19:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/192537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Brian share a cup of tea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tasks (Pleasant and Not)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ceroate (cero_ate)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cero_ate/gifts).



> Written because cero_ate wanted the pairing. Fills prompt _60: drink_ at fanfic100.

"The tea's not bad, for an American," Brian says, and the joke is warm, if only half-heartedly so. Brain's hands wrap around the cup, seeking the kind of comfort it can't give.

"Jarvis taught me well," Steve rejoins, setting his own cup on the table in front of him. "Of course, I learned a few lessons from my teammates in the War. They all had very firm beliefs about how tea should be prepared."

"Yes, I suppose they would have," Brian says absently. Then, more urgently, he says, "I don't know how you did it, Steve. How you can _still_ do it."

"I don't do anything you haven't, Brian."

"I meant the killing," Brian says simply.

"It's never a pleasant task," Steve answers quietly. "I haven't ever enjoyed it. But sometimes, it is necessary."

"That's what they tell me," Brian says softly. "But Skrulls or not, I can't help but keep thinking about their families. What about the children that won't be getting their parents back? Should they matter less because they were Skrulls?"

"Of course not," Steve answers sharply.

"Did it make any any easier when they were Nazis?"

Steve thinks of the war, and as he always does, he thinks of Bucky. Wise-cracks, shaggy hair, cracked lips and blood stains - just the way he always thinks of Bucky. "No, it didn't. The government knew that too, that's why they paired me with men who were supposed to be harsher, who were supposed to not mind it as much. But I used to lie awake at night, in our tent, and hear the toll it took on one of those young men. So you should trust me when I say that any man who is a good one will hate the act of killing, no matter how foul the opponent or how necessary the action."

"So you aren't going to call me a coward," Brian notes. "Excellent. Are you going to tell me that the nightmares will go away?"

"I could lie to you, if you like."

Brian's lips turn upward slightly. "I'd hate to be the person responsible for making Captain America lie."

"And I'd hate to be the person responsible for lying to Captain Britain."

Brian pulls his chair closer, his cup of tea abandoned. "You and Sharon still doing the poly thing?"

"Mmm, yes. You and Meggan?"

Brian nods. "So how about instead of lies neither of us will believe, you help me cope in other ways?"

Steve answers him the same way he always answered Bucky, back when his questions had been the same: silently, and with a kiss to start.


End file.
